


Matryoshka's Broken Compass

by ikyksou



Category: BLANC7 (Band), Day6 (Band), GOT7, SF9 (Band), Stray Kids (Band), Super Junior, Winner (Band), iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: 3racha are the ultimate brot3 fucking fight me, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Future, Anyways, Eventual Romance, Gen, M/M, Much plot, Plot, but changbin doesn't remember jackson, changbin is referred to as 99 for most of the fic until he remembers his name, i like to make my stories as interesting as possible, i regret it so much but twas painful to write, i started writing this after just be subsequent was terminated, it just has some elements from the play/movie, jackson knows changbin, junhyuk is also here, kind of a repo! the genetic opera au, mentions of many groups, ot5 winner here beans, show this story as much love as you showed just be subsequent please and thank you, so its ot12 winkon, so much plot is to be expected, winkon is superior
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-07-06 17:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15890598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikyksou/pseuds/ikyksou
Summary: Bang Chan, Seo Changbin, and Han Jisung are test subjects who’ve escaped from the Vechnost Laboratory. Taken in by the owners of an underground night club, they live in hiding under the guise of 3RACHA, a rapping trio with a reputation in the underground.Kim Woojin and his team of five are assigned the Vechnost Case as their first real mission for the Prism, and are tasked with finding Vechnost and shutting them down permanently. The only leads they received was a news article reporting of test subjects escaping, and supposed sightings of the escapees. They’re later told they’ll need to go undercover and investigate in the underground.A chance encounter brings these two together.





	1. Background Information

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello i have risen from the dead i guess. it pained me to write just be subsequent after jbj disbanded, and bO Y do i regret it so much, i had so much planned out for it and i let it slip away. shame on me. anyways, i started writing and planning this one a few months after i got rid of just be subsequent, and i hope you guys like it, even though you all probably hate me for ending just be subsequent. trust me, i hate myself too. i hate myself wildly, in fact. here's some background info before i post the prologue, which will be posted soon as i am a tired bean. that's all i have to say for now, see ya
> 
> \- ikyksou

  1. The story takes place in a more dystopian styled future, with the same concept as Repo! The Genetic Opera. The cast live in what is known as Neo Korea.
  2. Like in Repo! The Genetic Opera, an organ failure epidemic has taken over, but it is not as severe as it is in Repo! There is a large company that offers organ transplants on a payment plan in Seoul. This company is called GMO Corporation.
  3. If a client does not meet the payments for their payment plan on time, they will be hunted down by trained assassins who work for GMO as repo men. The repo men will repossess the transplanted organ, which results in the death of the client.
  4. Vechnost Laboratories is a human experimentation laboratory owned by GMO, who work under the guise of a medicine creator and distributor. Vechnost supplies GMO with their repo men.
  5. Vechnost creates repo men for GMO by taking children at a young age and wiping all their memories and identity. They then perform experiments on the kids and torture them until they are apathetic beings that don’t hold any emotions. They do this so the repo workers can do their jobs easily without feeling remorse afterwards, and in some cases, almost most cases, the repo workers enjoy it.
  6. Chan, Changbin, and Jisung are all subjects from the Vechnost Laboratories. Chan was the first of the trio taken in, then Jisung, and Changbin last. To show their belonging to Vechnost, tattoos with their subject name were tattooed onto their face under their right or left eye.
  7. The memory wiping practices have been the same in Vechnost for a long time, so the actual after effect is not as strong and efficient as it used to be. Chan and Jisung began to remember their actual identity, which put them at risk in the facilities for going through the process again, which could kill them. This factor was their main reason for escaping.
  8. Unlike his friends, Changbin does not yet remember his actual identity. However, he began experiencing empathy and couldn’t focus during training and testing.
  9. After escaping Vechnost, Chan, Changbin, and Jisung became listed as fugitives by GMO. They hide in the underground under the guise of 3RACHA, with names CB97 (Chan), SPEARB (Changbin), and J.One (Jisung), taken under the care of the owners of a club called MOBB.
  10. The Prism is a police force under the government, made specifically to end the illegal practices done by labs like Vechnost and corporations like GMO. The organization is led by Admiral Kim Seonghwan, known as Jean Paul to the other members of the force.
  11. Each field operations unit is assigned a leader and a second in command. If the leader cannot be present for a mission, the second in command will lead the mission for their respective unit.
  12. Kim Woojin, Lee Minho, Hwang Hyunjin, Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin, and Yang Jeongin work for The Prism, and is the force’s most recent established field operations unit, labeled Sigma Rho Kappa.
  13. Woojin is Sigma Rho Kappa’s leader, while Minho is their second in command.
  14. The owner of GMO is commonly referred to as “Hyde” by the public. They relate this naming to the original source, the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They gave him that name, saying that he was once a good and kind scientist (Jekyll), but was slowly corrupted by his darker side (Hyde).
  15. Hyde is known to absolutely hate The Prism for reasons unknown.
  16. It is also rumored that one of his two sons is working for the Prism. This rumor is true, and could be the possible source of Hyde’s hatred for the police force.
  17. Hyde sends some of his men to spy on his son as he works, trying to find openings to take him back home and have him do what he’s supposed to do, which is learn how the business works so he could take over when he’s older.



 

**Prism Teams**

 

**Team Beta Nu Sigma (** **ΒΝΣ** **)**

Park Jiwon "Shinwoo", Kim Seonghwan “Jean Paul” (Leader), Hwang Euijeong “Teno” (Second in Command), Kim Yeonhak "D.L", Kim Sungchan "Spax", Kim Geonwoong “K-KID”, Honda Taichi

 

**Team Gamma Omega Tau (** **ΓΩΤ** **)**

Mark Tuan, Im Jaebum “JB” (Leader), Jackson Wang, Park Jinyoung (Second in Command), Choi Youngjae, Kunpimook Bhuwakul “BamBam”, Kim Yugueom

 

**Team Delta Alpha Psi (** **ΔΑΨ** **)**

Park Jaehyung “Jae”, Park Sungjin (Leader), Kang Younghyun “Young K” (Second in Command), Kim Wonpil, Yoon Dowoon

 

**Team Sigma Phi Nu (** **ΣΦΝ** **)**

Kim Inseong (Second in Command), Kim Youngbin (Leader), Lee Jaeyoon, Lee Sanghyuk “Dawon”, Baek Juho “Zuho”, Kim Seokwoo “Rowoon”, Yoo Taeyang, Kim Youngkyun “Hwiyoung”, Kang Chanhee “Chani”

 

**Team Sigma Rho Kappa (** **ΣΡΚ** **)**

Kim Woojin (Leader), Lee Minho “Lee Know” (Second in Command), Hwang Hyunjin, Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin, Yang Jeongin “I.N”


	2. Prologue: Escape, Disguise, and Blend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The escape from Vechnost. The focus characters, 3RACHA, are introduced while also giving a flashback to the events prior to the current timeline of the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good lordt i finally finished the prologue! this is the longest prologue i've written, almost 10000 words. i'm not really sure what i did, but i did something.
> 
> please receive this prologue well. enjoy!
> 
> \- ikyksou

**4 MONTHS AGO**

_Alarms sounded all throughout the facility, the halls illuminated by slow blinking red lights_

 

Footsteps echoed against the dark tinted glass walls of the Vechnost Laboratory. Three pairs of white covered feet left yellowish brown stains on the white tiled floor in a frantic and hurried manner, tainting the once sparkling and clean floor. Shiny, black covered feet slammed against the dirtied tiles a few steps behind them, loud and angry. Hot, panicked breaths filled up the empty space in the hallways, wild eyes scanning the area, looking for the next way to turn. “Contain those subjects immediately!” a strong voice yelled, a voice of authority, and those white covered feet moved faster, more frantic and hurried. White feet trailed up to white, form fitting pants, then towards a loose white hoodie, in which the hood was usually drawn up, to mask the face and create uniformity, the typical test subject ensemble. However, these three hoods were drawn down, revealing three heads of black hair. “Do not let them escape at any cost!” the same authoritative voice yelled, stopping in the middle of the hallway as bulky persons rushed past them, dressed in dark grey uniforms with heavy brown boots, geared with the most advanced weaponry and aiming their high-tech blasters at the three figures of white speeding down the hallway. Dark red lasers shot at the test subjects.

“They’re shooting at us,” one of the test subjects said. His black hair was styled in an undercut. His skin was tan, and his features were sharp yet held a slight soft edge. Obsidian orbs were lightly covered by droopy eyelids, leading down to a somewhat large nose that fit with his face, to plump lips tinted a dullish red, pulled into a scowl. Underneath his right eye, tattooed in black ink was the evidence of Vechnost’s ownership, his subject name, ‘ **CBS0099** ’.  “We need to get to the roof access elevator quickly,”

“I know, we’re almost there,” another subject murmured in response, eyes looking forward as they ran. This subject’s hair, also black, was let down, bangs resting atop thick eyebrows. He donned pale skin, narrow eyes, a long nose leading to plush mauve lips. Underneath his left eye, his subject name ‘ **CPB0097** ’ was tattooed in black ink. His hands were grasped tightly around CBS0099’s wrist as well as another test subject, HJS0000’s wrist. **HJS0000** donned black hair swept up from his face, light tan skin, black doe eyes going down to a slanted nose and blush lips. The trio ran from the guards, CPB0097 dragging the other two behind him, their steps loud and warning. “It’s up ahead, c’mon!” he yelled, and the three subjects picked up their pace, making the distance between them increase. Reaching his arm out for the roof access, CPB0097 forced open the elevator doors, letting the other two subjects enter first before following them in. He quickly pressed the up button, watching the doors close while giving the guards a blistering glare. Soon, the elevator was moving, bringing them up to the roof. CPB0097’s lips were pressed into a thin line as they past the rest of the floors, nearing the roof.

“We’re going to have to jump off, Chan-hyung,” HJS0000 says, looking over to CPB0097, now identified as Chan. Said male nods grimly. The doors open, and the trio quickly make their way to the edge of the rooftop, looking at the dull greenery below. This was the only part of the facility that wasn’t fenced off, leaving it free for them to escape. “We have to jump now, or they’ll get to us,” he adds, CBS0099 nodding in agreement behind him. Blank eyes take in the expanse of greenery beyond the testing facilities, and it hits them how much they need this, how much they want this. Bangs filter into their ears, and Chan pushes them closer to the edge.

“Jisung, 99, jump now! Jump!” he commands them, and with no further arguments, HJS0000, now known as Jisung, grabs 99’s wrist, and the two run, leaping off of the building. Chan peered down right after, slight worry in his obsidian eyes, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw Jisung and 99 standing up from their landing position unharmed, the bottom of their pants and shoes stained with dirt. The familiar sound of the roof access elevator opening caught his attention, snapping his head to see the security guards entering the area, spotting him immediately and firing their blasters at him. One nearly hit his face, but it still grazed along his forehead, making him wince and grunt in pain. Clutching his forehead, he turned around and ran, leaping off the rooftop and landing shakily by Jisung and 99. “Run,” he whispered, and the three of them bolted into the forest. The security guards ran towards the edge.

“Don’t go after them,” a low, authoritative voice echoed in throughout the rooftop area. The security guards skidded to a stop at the edge of the rooftop, the blobs of white getting less visible as the subjects ran farther away, lowering their arms, turning to the source of the voice. A tall man with graying hair in a pristine white coat stood, hands covered with red rubber gloves and a cunning smirk on his face.

“But sir, they-” one guard starts, but the man holds up his hand up, silencing him, the guard pressing his lips together and lowering his head. The unnamed man breathed out a snicker, looking at the expanse of trees of trees before him, eyes darkening as they caught sight of the city skylines. 

“They won’t last very long out there,” he hums, eyes narrowing. It appeared that he knew something that they didn’t know, but he didn’t approach the topic any further. Turning around, he beckoned the guards to follow him as he made his way back to the elevator, standing in the middle as the guards surrounded him. “Report them as fugitives. We'll let local forces deal with them,” he adds, and the elevator doors slide close.

 

~*~

 

Chan, 99, and Jisung continue to run through the forest, steps still frantic and eyes wide, scanning their surroundings carefully, but quickly. They don’t know if the guards are following them, chasing them down with their blasters held up in front of them, ready to shoot those scalding lasers. Their breaths were ragged, loud, laced with the adrenaline from thought and feeling of their escape from the facility. 99 ran in front, followed by Jisung and Chan. Chan staggered a bit behind the other two, left foot hurting a bit from his flawed landing. The silence in the forest surrounding the three subjects was deafening, even though there was so much sound in the area. The rustling of tree leaves in the wind, the crunching of branches and dead grass under their feet. But for them, their adrenaline, their fear of being caught, the want to get as far away from Vechnost as possible, blocked out all sound, except for the own beating of their hearts, intense against their chests.  A gasp and grunt of pain echoed in the forest. 99 and Jisung looked back immediately, seeing Chan on the dirt, clutching at his leg. “Chan-hyung, what happened? Are you okay?” Jisung asked him, rushing over with 99 and kneeling over him. 

“My foot...stuck in a branch,” he hissed out, and 99 peered around, seeing the taller’s left foot, bent at an odd angle, caught under a curved branch. His breathing increases in speed, worried for his friend and brother like figure as he examines the sight. Carefully, he raises the branch off of Chan’s foot, grabbing the other male’s leg in a gentle hold and maneuvering it out of the area, wincing as the injured released sounds of pain from the movement. “One of you’s going to have to carry me,” he adds in a hiss, getting into a (safe) seated position with the help of 99. Jisung takes the initiative, crouching in front of Chan and letting the older wraps his arms around his shoulders as he hooked his arms underneath the bend of his knees, picking him up without much struggle.

“We need to keep going,” 99 breathed out, looking behind him with wary eyes, gently ushering Chan and Jisung to start moving again, in fear that the guards from Vechnost weren’t far behind them. Jisung adjusted his grip on Chan and ran as best as he could with the other on his back, 99 covering them from behind. They could hear their blood rushing in their ears as they continued getting as far from Vechnost as they could. The sky slowly grew darker and darker, until the sunset was no more, and the sky was only an inky, dark indigo mass, with faint glowing white specks in it. If it were any other day, maybe the three would stop to stargaze, having always been curious on the outside world. But now wasn’t the time, especially when their lives were on the line. Sweat cascaded down their faces, white clothes suddenly heavy and clinging and hot on their bodies. When you’re running for your life, you lose track of time, don’t know how long you’ve been running. The only thing you know is that you have to escape, you have to live. “There’s a streetlight in the distance,” 99 huffed, pushing himself to run just towards the streetlight, Jisung readjusting Chan on his back and following 99 with the same tired urgency. They were so close, _so, so close_ , to civilization, to being free from that hellhole they’ve practically lived in their whole life. Wet, slick grass became rough, wet concrete as they stumbled out of the forest, and onto the empty city streets. Glancing both ways, seeing if anyone was around, the three boys continued on with cautious steps. Towering buildings and shops looked back at them, with traffic lights dangling in the air above them, and crosswalks marking the barren roads. The area they were in looked a bit run down, with an entrance between two stores that seemed to lead to..underground. It wasn’t exactly how the boys imagined the city to be, but they guessed they would find out over time. Just as they passed by the underground entrance, a voice rang out throughout the air.

“Lookie here, boys. Looks like we’ll have one last thrift today,” an unknown voice said, and the three boys found themselves being surrounded by a group of burly men, dressed in dirty clothing and reeking of drugs and alcohol, smirks on their faces showcasing dirty, stained teeth.

“Shit,” Jisung curses, tightening his grip on Chan as 99 stepped up in front of them, facial expression set into a grimace, black bangs shadowing his darkening eyes as he curls his hands into fists by his sides. One man, covered head to toe in tattoos, stepped forward, and they could immediately guess this man to be the leader of this little ragtag group. He directed his nasty smirk to 99.

“What are little kids like you doing out past your bedtime, hnm?” the heavily tattooed man chimed, squatting down a bit to look 99 in the face. “Don’t you know it’s not safe to be out this late?” he adds with a chuckle, smirk widening as he tilted his head to the side. 99 remained quiet, expression still placed into a grimace as he stood protectively in front of Jisung and Chan. The man’s smirk dropped from his face, eyebrow raised as he stood to his full height, crossing his arms. “Not gonna talk, I see? That’s fine, I’ll get words out from you eventually,” he hums, glancing over to his men, cocking his head forward with a nod. Two other tattooed men approached the trio with aggressive steps, grabbing the sleeve of 99’s hoodie and pulling him forward, but was met with a punch to the face from 99, who had used his free hand to punch. The guy stumbled back, clutching at his nose with an angry yell. The other man stormed at 99, swinging his fists, but the shorter was ready, evading the punches before delivering a right hook to the guy’s jaw and giving a forceful kick to the abdomen. Another man however attacked from the back, pulling the subject back by his hoodie and turning him around, delivering a solid punch to his face, where a slight cracking noise could be heard as 99 stumbled backwards, and in his momentary stunned daze, the larger male twisted his arm behind his back and pinned him to the ground with all his weight on top, a grunt of pain coming 99 as his face got scraped up by the concrete of the empty road. The raven haired boy struggled to free himself, the man on top of him laughing at the struggle. His head was forced up by a pull of his hair, and he was once again met with disgusting face of the leader. “I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting that kiddo, but you’re outnumbered here, nice try,” the leader cackled, making 99 grit his teeth, wriggling some more but stopping with another harsh tug of his hair. “Ah ah ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, wouldn’t want your injured friend getting more injured, right?” he grinned, making 99 look over to where the barrel of a gun was pressed to Jisung’s head, who held onto Chan tightly with a grim expression. 99 could tell how badly Jisung wanted to fight too, but Chan’s safety and well-being was more important. Before any of them could say another word, a cold voice cut through.

“What did I tell you about being in my area, Junsu?”

The leader’s, Junsu’s, eyes widened, head snapping to look over his shoulder. The other members of his group shared the same widened eyes and fearful expression as their leader. “I-It’s not what it looks like, S-” 

“It is exactly what it looks like. Would you rather it be Jay or Hoony that were here instead of me?”

“N-No! W-We’ll be right on our way, Song! Never come back to this area!”

“It better stay that way. Now leave.”

Junsu looked back to 99, sending a cold glare his way. “You got lucky, rat,” he spat in the other’s face, releasing his hair and signaling the man on top of him to get off. The other men stepped away from Jisung and Chan, meeting back with their leader before heading off.  The shortest of the escaped trio brought himself to a sitting position, rubbing at his face with a wince and grumble. His nose was probably broken, and when he pulled back his hands, they were tinted red with blood, so his face was a bit scraped up too. Dark brown boots stopped in front of him, and the escapee blinked in confusion, slowly looking upwards. Dark brown boots with black, ripped skinny jeans tucked into them and framed by the body of a wine red, faux fur coat. Chains dripped down from the belt loops of the pants onto the person’s right leg. Tucked halfway into the pants was what appeared to be a yellow and black checkered turtleneck, one long black cord looped around his neck along with a shorter gold chain with a sapphire pendant. Looking past the top of the wine red coat draped across shoulders, he was met with the face of a man. Dark irises of ebony stared back into his own, framed by loosely curled platinum blonde hair and lead down to a straight nose. Plump rose lips were set into a thin line, and he could see the glinting of the dull gold studs in his ears in his peripheral vision. A light hand found its way to his cheek, brushing the skin softly with his thumb, making 99 wince as a stinging pain flared throughout his face, making the male hum.

“You’re pretty banged up, aren’t cha’,” he hummed, tone smooth as he removed his hand, eyes focusing somewhere on his face. By where his eyes were focused, 99 could tell that he was looking at his tattoo from Vechnost, and the escapee covered it quickly with his hand, glancing away. The platinum blonde turned to look at Jisung and Chan, humming once more when he gives the two a once-over, crouching down to examine Chan’s swollen foot, fingers pressing gently only to elicit a pained whimper from the injured boy. “And you’re not the only one either,” he adds, standing back up to his full height. “What are you three doing out so late? The underground area isn’t really the safest place to be, y’know,” he adds with a small chuckle, placing one hand in his coat pocket. 99 stared at the man, lips pursed in thought. Although this man had saved them from Junsu and his gang, who’s to say that he won’t just turn them over to the authorities to deal with, and risk getting sent back to Vechnost? He was not going to get sent back to that place, and neither were Chan and Jisung. They had finally escaped, they were not going back without a fight. 

“We’re test subjects from Vechnost Laboratories,” Chan spoke up, making Jisung and 99 look at the injured male with widened eyes. Was it really safe to trust this guy? Chan could see the wary glances that the other two sent him, and he returned their gazes with an assuring one, telling them to trust him. This platinum blonde didn’t seem to have any ill intentions, and he saw the hints of black ink words on the male’s neck, just enough to see the words _Tiamine Laboratory Inc,_ similar to his own tattoo. This male was just like them, an escapee from a laboratory. “We’ve run away in search of freedom,” the eldest of the trio adds, and he can see 99’s alarmed stare in his peripheral, about to speak up, but silenced when the male chuckles.

“Lab runaways, huh? It’s been a while since I’ve seen some of those,” he hums thoughtfully. “After all, I was one myself,” he adds, pulling down his turtleneck to show the black branding on the right side of his neck, and Jisung’s and 99’s eyes widened. A lab runaway like them? What luck they had today after escaping. “Come with me. Your cuts could get infected and your nose and his foot will get worse,” he tells them, gesturing them to follow him as he made his way to the large entrance leading underground. The trio glanced at each other, before slowly following the male.

“W-Wait, what’s your name?” Jisung asked, grunting as he adjusted Chan on his back, still being cautious of his swollen foot, which appeared more swollen than before. Their companion saw the struggle and stopped the younger boy, gently taking Chan from him and adjusting him on his back.

“Most people in this area call me Song, but you three can call me Yunhyeong,” the male, Yunhyeong, replied, a light smile gracing his features as he lead the three down into the underground. “Welcome to the Underground, Seoul’s safe place for the non-conforming and broken,” the blonde hummed. It looked just like the city, except it was bathed in a reddish-orange and yellow glow, thrumming with the bass of music playing from the many night clubs scattered around. The buildings were all worn down, covered in elaborate graffiti which crawled up and around the surface of the buildings. People were scattered on the streets, clad in skimpy clothes, leather, and fur, a faint haze laid upon them as they yelled and laughed, stumbling along. The three escapees looked around, wide eyes taking in the sight around them. Yunhyeong lead in the direction where music could be heard blasting from, the bass booming through their bodies. As they got closer to the source of the music, the trio couldn’t help but notice that no one even spared them a glance. Was no one suspicious of them? No one was put off by their identical, stark white attires? Or the black tattoos on their faces? “You’ll find that no one here really cares who you are, as long as you don’t bother them and start a fight,” Yunhyeong explains with a grin, noticing their confused faces. He remembers when he first escaped from his lab, arriving in the underground and being confused at how no one seemed to question where he was from. With that memory in his head, he can already feel a soft spot for this trio forming. As they get closer to the music source, the blonde turns to Jisung and 99, making sure to keep Chan secure on his back. “I believe I didn’t catch your names earlier.” A small silence falls upon the three, brief glances exchanged between the three before Jisung clears his throat.

“I’m Jisung,” he starts off, offering the taller a smile. “The one you’re carrying on your back is Chan, and the one in between us is 99. He doesn’t remember his real name,” he adds with a small smile, yelping when his shoulder is smacked by the shortest escapee, rubbing with a glare. “What was that for?!”

“Did you really have to mention that?” 99 grumbles, shoving his hands into his white hoodie pockets, clearly annoyed with the reveal of that information. Yunhyeong chuckled at the ordeal, grin widening when the building he was looking for came into view.

“We’re here,” the blonde chirped, making the three boys look in the same direction. A dark grey building, two stories high. Along the sides and front of the building were streaks of glowing, bright orange paint splatters. Bolted above the entrance in the same glowing bright orange as the paint, outlined by black, read the text **_MOBB._ ** Inside, they could see the rapid flashing of multicolored strobe lights and the dark mass of bodies swaying together to the intricately mixed trap beat. Without missing a beat, Yunhyeong leads Jisung, Chan, and 99 into the thriving night club. The trio can feel the trap beat pulsating throughout their bodies as they enter, wiggling their way through the sweaty, swaying bodies around them. The blonde leads them to a stairwell, carefully carrying Chan up the stairs, Jisung and 99 following closely behind. The stairway is slightly narrow, but it’s enough for a person to move around comfortably. The music is reduced to a faint hum once they reach the second floor, where a medium sized platform is, similar to a porch, a closed door in front of them. Yunhyeong reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out a brass key and inserting into the keyhole on the door, unlocking it and pushing it open softly. “Everyone else is working downstairs at the moment,” he supplies, carrying Chan to the couch and laying him down carefully, frowning when the male releases a groan of pain, grabbing a small pillow and resting his injured foot on it.

“Everyone else?” Jisung asks curiously, kneeling down besides Chan’s form on the couch, looking at his foot with a glum expression. Yunhyeong hums in response, making sure Chan’s foot is accomodated well before turning to face Jisung and 99.

“Yeah, I live here with eleven other guys. It gets hectic, but we make it work,” the blonde replies, heading over to the bathroom and retrieving a first aid kit, chuckling at Jisung’s surprised gasp of ‘eleven other guys?!’, setting it down before looking to the surprised boy. “Jisung, can you go to the kitchen and get an ice pack? They’re in the freezer on the top,” the blonde asks softly, pointing to the kitchen and the fridge so the boy knows where to go. The boy nods, getting up from his kneeling position and heading over to the kitchen. 99 purses his lips together, watching Jisung head to the kitchen before turning his gaze back to Yunhyeong.

“Thank you, for helping us out back there,” 99 tells him softly, rolling up his hoodie sleeves and grabbing the ice pack from Jisung when he comes back, watching the blonde carefully wrap his friend’s foot, pausing midway to grab the icepack from him and wrap it in with his foot, making Chan hiss at the cold sensation spreading along his foot. “I don’t know what exactly would’ve happened if you didn’t arrive when you did,” he adds, watching as the blonde finishes up Chan’s foot, turning towards him with a scoff.

“I’ve been telling Junsu to stay away from the underground for a week now, he’s such a nasty guy. Today was the last straw, especially when I saw he had you pinned down to the ground, and your friends held at gunpoint. I’m done with his shit,” he muttered, taking out hydrogen peroxide and a cotton ball, dipping the ball in the liquid before gently dabbing at the cuts on 99’s face, the male hissing at the sting from his cuts. “I’m glad I helped, you three remind me of when I escaped from the laboratory I was a subject in,” the older man adds, placing the cotton ball down before examining 99’s nose again, humming a bit before wrapping the boy’s nose in gauze. “You can say I’ve developed a soft spot for you three,” he adds with a chuckle, going to the kitchen, returning with a smaller ice pack wrapped in a towel, softly telling him to hold it to his nose. “Rest up, you three look like you’ve been through a lot today,” Yunhyeong hums, going behind the couch, adjusting it carefully and slowly as to not injure Chan’s foot any further. The sofa became a full sized mattress, and the blonde fixed the pillows, gesturing the other two boys over with a wave of his hand. Jisung and 99 approached slowly, resting on both sides of Chan, staying close to him. Yunhyeong hummed softly at the sight. It truly reminded him of when he was found and taken in the underground, sleeping on that exact couch all by himself. Grabbing a large blanket, he laid it upon the three boys, smiling softly. And with that, the three boys fell asleep, the adrenaline wearing off and exhaustion crawling quickly within them and taking over, succumbing the trio into a deep sleep.

 

**~*~**

 

 _“Did three homeless kids break into our home-”_  

 _“No you dumbass, I brought them here yesterday, they almost got mugged-”_  

_“Junsu and his lackeys again, I assume-”_

_“Do we have to wake them up? They look so cute sleeping~”_

_“Donghyuk, stop being a fucking creep, damnit-”_

 

The various voices filtering into his ears caused Chan to stir awake, squirming a bit in the bed, slowly blinking his eyes open. “Look, one of them is waking up!” one of the voices said, followed by a smacking sound and a whine, presumably from the person that spoke. Chan forced himself to sit up slowly, rubbing his eyes softly and wincing at the pain coming from his foot. Lowering his hand from his face, he opened his eyes, looking around. Jisung and 99 were still asleep on either side of him, having kept close to him as they slept. Looking up, he met the curious eyes of a blonde haired man, but it wasn’t Yunhyeong. This man had more narrow and sharp facial features, eyes a long, almond shape, as well as a dimpled smile gracing his features. Looking past the blonde, he could see a few other faces looking down at him and the other. These must’ve been the other people that Yunhyeong lived with, well, some of them at least.

“Donghyuk, get out of his space, I have to check on his foot,” a familiar voice filtered in as Yunhyeong came into view. The other blonde, now identified as Donghyuk, huffed lightly but complied to the other’s words, moving out of the way for him to get through. Yunhyeong shook his head with a grumble, giving Chan a soft smile. “Slept well?” he asked, gently unwrapping Chan’s foot, being mindful of the other two still sleeping. The injured male merely nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment with all these other people in the room. Yunhyeong hummed, examining his foot. “That’s good. The swelling in your foot went down, but it’s still a bit swollen, so I’ll get you another ice pack and wrap your foot up again, alright?” the blonde told him, which earned him another nod from the boy. “You don’t have to be scared to talk either, they may look intimidating but they’re all a bunch of soft dorks,” he adds with a laugh, taking the warm ice pack and taking it back to the kitchen as well as to get a new one. 

“Hey, I find myself to be very intimidating, thank you very much!” one the other males that was looming over him shouted, huffing and crossing his arms. The shout, unfortunately, caused both Jisung and 99 to stir awake, but it seemed that the male didn’t notice. This male had straight, vibrant caramel brown hair, with bold eyebrows of the same color, albeit a bit darker. Chocolate brown irises encased in large, doe eyes glimmered with an insatiable fire, a long nose leading to rosy lips pulled into a scowl. The brunette was smaller in stature, thin arms crossed over his chest and feet set shoulder-width apart. “Many people find me scary!”

“Yes, you’re so intimidating when you stand with a tense posture and wide eyes screaming fear,” another male piped up, playfully pushing the brunette’s shoulder. This male was taller than the brunette, with a shock of neon yellow hair. Bold, black brows rested above hooded, earthy brown eyes, while the smooth slope of his nose lead to vermillion lips split into a smile. “Don’t mind Jinwoo, he’s always like that,” he chuckles, turning to the trio. “I’m Minho, by the way. You can just call me Mino. Welcome to the underground and this shithole that we call a house,” the man, Minho, grins, slipping his hands in his pockets just as Yunhyeong returns with a new, frozen icepack wrapped in a towel for Chan’s foot.

“Yes, and we work _very hard_ to maintain and pay for this shithole,” Yunhyeong grumbles, scowling at Mino as he kneels down by Chan, rewrapping his foot with the icepack and propping it up gently once again. From how the blonde responded to the other, Chan could tell that Yunhyeong really prided himself in making sure this place was suitable to live in as much as possible, and he could tell that this place meant a lot to him. “Now, you three must be starving, right? I’ll bring you guys breakfast,” he told them softly, giving a smile, before heading to the kitchen, followed by his complaining friends who wondered why they weren’t offered food. Chan isn’t sure what compelled the action, but he somehow found himself smiling at the feat.

  
**.**

 

It had been about a week since Yunhyeong had taken in Chan, 99, and Jisung. In the span of that week, Chan’s foot healed up nicely. The three lab escapees had found themselves easily becoming part of the 12 men’s daily dynamic, seemingly weaving themselves into their lives. As Yunhyeong told them that day, the blonde did have a soft spot for them, seeing as how they reminded him of when he had escaped those several years ago. With each passing day, the blonde man’s soft spot only grew as he grew more attached, although he wasn’t the only one. His 11 other companions too, had taken a liking to the three boys that suddenly appeared in their lives. Some doted on them more than others (Jinhwan, Jinwoo, Yunhyeong, Seungyoon, and Donghyuk). Some joked around with them to get more comfortable (Jiwon, Junhoe, and Minho), and the remaining ones would converse with them quietly, having a similar reserved demeanor (Seunghoon, Taehyun, Hanbin, and Chanwoo).  Since all 12 of them worked jobs in the normal city, they would often have to leave the three by themselves, but not without having something to do. The three boys seemed to be interested in Hanbin’s midi keyboard and music making programs in his studio, so the sandy blonde male would let them learn and experiment with his equipment while they were all gone, until they would return and get for their night jobs, which was running the nightclub underneath them, MOBB. Jiwon and Minho were the actual owners of the establishment, while the others worked jobs within the club.

“Shit!” they could hear Hanbin curse from his room, startling them. Most of the 12 were back from their day jobs, save for Jinwoo, Donghyuk, and Taehyun, who all worked at the same restaurant. Minho looked up from his laptop, eyebrows furrowing as he sees the sandy blonde walk into the living room with a small scowl gracing his face, cellphone held tightly in his right hand.

“What happened, Hanbin?” the neon yellow haired male asks, closing his laptop and placing it down next to Jisung, getting up from the couch and walking over to the other. Jisung casts a wary glance to Chan and 99, who return the look.

“Cory texted, those same bastards are messing with his club again,” the other grumbled, “This is the fourth time that they’ve bothered Cory and his guys, and they’re disrupting the peace here, because Cory also told me it wasn’t just his place they messed with,” he pauses for a moment, “They messed with Inpyo’s, Jinhoo’s, Taeyoung’s, and Jinyoung’s places too,” Hanbin added, pocketing his phone and looking back at Minho with a serious expression. “I think you what time it is, Minho.” the taller’s expression soon matches that of Hanbin, and he gives a silent nod.

“Does Jiwon know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Jiwon pipes up as he walks into the living room, putting a leather jacket on in the process, black and blonde split hair tousled into a neat mess. “God, we told those guys to leave three times already. Do they wanna piss us off more?” he huffs, adjusting the collar of his jacket as Hanbin retreats back to his room momentarily. “And we’re supposed to show our newest song tonight! I’m not sure we’ll be back here in time, since Cory’s club is on the other side of the underground district,” Jiwon sighs, opening a drawer underneath the tv and taking out three pistols, stunning the escapee trio. What exactly were Minho, Jiwon, and Hanbin going to do?

“Well, we’ll just have to make it quick then, won’t we?” Minho pipes up, grabbing his own leather jacket and throwing it on. Spotting the surprised eyes of the boys, he shoots them a lopsided smile. “It’s just for defense, we’re not going to kill anyone. There are just some..unwanted pests that needed to be taken care of,” he explains, tone going sour near the end as he grabs one of the pistols. It didn’t really soothe the confusion and worry of the trio, but they wouldn’t question any further. Hanbin returns, dressed in a long, black trench coat, grabbing the remaining pistol and placing it in the inner pockets of the trench coat.

“We better get on our way,” Hanbin tells the other two. “Yunhyeong-hyung, open up early, we don’t know when we’ll be back. Jinhwan-hyung, Seunghoon-hyung, keep security tight and be watchful, don’t need anything happening to our establishment.” Hanbin’s voice holds a strong authoritative tone, but it isn’t in a negative way. The three that were spoken receive the words well, nodding with understanding expressions. Yunhyeong steps up to the three men.

“Be careful, okay?”

“We’re always careful, Yun~” Jiwon chirps, patting the other’s shoulder with a cheeky grin, bunny like teeth shown. It makes the platinum blonde chuckle, nodding and patting the other’s shoulder in return.

“I know, I know, but we all care about you guys,” Yunhyeong replies, smile soft. Hanbin and Minho give their friend similar smiles, before looking forward and making their exit, shutting the door softly behind them.

“What exactly are they going to do?" 

Yunhyeong blinks, turning to face the trio sitting on the couch. “Huh?”

“What exactly are they going to do?” 99 repeats his question, raising an eyebrow at the man. “It seems really important and dangerous,” he adds. Yunhyeong hums, tapping his chin in thought before sending the three a grin.

“I’ll let those three tell you,” the blonde replies, receiving a whine from Jisung (‘I want to know what they’re doing!’). “Let’s just say..they are very, very important figures here in the underground. They’re the ones that keep this place in order,” he adds, nodding afterwards. “You can ask them when they return. Chanwoo, Junhoe, start setting up downstairs,” he tells the two in the kitchen, who nod without another word, heading downstairs. Looking back to the trio, the blonde gives them an apologetic smile. “It’s a hectic day today. You three can just go in Hanbin’s studio for now. I’ll tell you guys when we’re about to head off downstairs to work,” he adds, heaving a soft sigh, before going back to the kitchen where he was before. The three enter Hanbin’s studio, closing the door behind them and seating themselves in front of the midi keyboard.

“Today has been a weird day so far,” Jisung chirps, opening up the programs on the computer, humming to himself. “Are Minho-hyung and the others former criminals or something? Why would they have guns?”

“They said it was for defense purposes, and don’t really seem like the type who would shoot someone willingly,” 99 adds in, watching as the programs load and set up on the monitor. “If they were like that, we would’ve been dead already since they didn’t know who we were, until Yunheong explained that he had taken us in,” he adds, running a hand through his hair. 

“We’ll get our explanation once they come back,” Chan hummed, grabbing the mouse from Jisung, opening up a blank project, or at least, he thought he did. Instead, he clicked on a folder labeled ‘ _Discontinued Projects_ ’. The male blinks, looking at the seven files before him.

“Hyung, what did you press?” Jisung questions, peering over the older’s shoulder as 99 rolls up next to them, the same befuddled expression on his face as he looks at the screen. “This isn’t a new project.”

“They seem to be deleted files,” Chan hums to himself, looking at the unnamed files in front of him. He clicks on the first one, watching it load, before it’s opened up in the program. Compared to the ones that he’s seen Hanbin, Jiwon, and Minho work on, this one seems very short, not much done with it. He plays the file. The room is flooded with a simple string instrumental, dark and brooding as it went on, layering on with some more strings and a faint bass. Then, more sound effects were layered on top, to create an instrumental. It continued on, until it lessened down into a faint string with chimes, and then it stopped, only have been a minute and twenty-three seconds long. “Why was this discontinued? It isn’t bad,” Chan speaks up, eyebrows furrowed in confusion after listening to the file.

“Perhaps he didn’t like how it was coming out so far?” Jisung provided, tilting his head with puffed cheeks.

“Or perhaps he didn’t know how to continue it,” 99 hums, looking at the screen before him thoughtfully. Chan purses his lips, looking from the screen and back down to the midi keyboard before him. It’s on, connected to the other devices in the studio. Bringing it closer to himself, he lifts up his fingers cautiously, pressing his fingers to the keys, hearing the notes throughout the room. He’s not quite sure what he’s doing, but he starts to add more to the track, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. In his head, a variation of the beginning is playing, and he’s trying to translate it onto the program. “Chan?”

“Hold on, 99,” the said male responds, eyes narrowing as he continues working on the file. Jisung watches curiously, wondering what the older could possibly be adding. “I think..I think I finished it,” he tells the two, glancing over to them with a wary expression. “I don’t know, but in my head, the song continued, and I just felt like I had to do something,” he explains. “Is that weird?”

“Well, there’s only one way to see. Play it from the beginning,” 99 tells him. “Let’s see how it sounds as a whole,” the shortest adds, leaning back in his seat with a curious expression, Jisung nodding excitedly in agreement. Chan gulps, looking back to the screen. Hanbin, Jiwon, and Minho had taught them how to use the programs, but did Chan execute his ideas properly? Well, they would find out now. Bringing the cursor to the play button, he pressed play, sitting tense in his seat as the track played again. They all listened closely to the track, bobbing their heads lightly along with it. The part that Chan added soon played, and Chan sat tense in his seat. What would his companions think? Did what he do make sense?

“It sounds amazing!” Jisung chirps, throwing his arms up in the air, grinning widely. “You surely understand the programs well in a short amount of time, hyung. It works really well,” the younger added, looking over to Chan, 99 nodding in agreement. However, Chan’s facial expression was blank, making Jisung and 99 concerned. “Chan-hyung?..”

“I have a really crazy idea..” he mutters, slowly turning around to face his two friends, playing with his fingers, glancing up at the other two males, who share a glance before looking back to Chan.

“What is it?” Jisung and 99 ask in unison.

  
**..**

 

“You three want to what!?” Yunhyeong asks, eyes wide as he stares at Chan, 99, and Jisung standing in front of him. It was around the time in which they were about to open the club. Jinwoo, Donghyuk, and Taehyun had finally arrived from their day job, and everyone was getting to work for the night.

“We want to perform tonight. We know the hyungs said they’ll be late, and it’ll be a way for us to do something for you,” Chan explains slowly, wringing his hands together nervously with a sheepish expression, 99 and Jisung with similar expressions on their faces. Yunhyeong blinks at the explanation, running a hand through his hair.

“You guys have never performed in front of a live audience, nevertheless, performed in general,” the older sighs, looking at them with an odd expression. “What even gave you this idea?”

“We found Hanbin-hyung’s unfinished and discontinued projects, and we finished two of them,” Jisung pipes in. “Well, Chan-hyung did. He’s the more experienced one with programs at the moment,” he adds, patting said male on the shoulder lightly with a faint grin, proud of the older male and what he has done. All three of them knew that Yunhyeong was questioning them so hard in his mind, if the puzzled expression on his face was any indication.

“What’s happening here? You look troubled, Yunhyeong,” Seunghoon pipes up, walking into the living room with Seungyoon behind him. His long, chestnut brown hair was pulled into a man bun, and wearing a navy blue security uniform, straightening out the button up shirt tucked into his pants. Seungyoon’s white hair is half slicked back, and he’s dressed in a silk black dress shirt tucked into wine red slacks.

“The kids want to perform in the club tonight, but they’ve never done anything of the likes before,” Yunhyeong tells them, looking up to them. “They found Hanbin’s discarded files and worked on a few of them,” he adds, glancing back to the trio sitting in front of him. Seungyoon hums in thought, glancing upwards, but Seunghoon’s response is more quick, and surprising.

“Let them do it,” the eldest at the moment hums, giving a shrug of his shoulders with a lopsided grin, patting Yunhyeong’s shoulder. “What’s so bad about it?”

“They have no experience!” the platinum blonde exclaimed, eyes wide as he gestured to the three boys in front of him.

“Well, neither did Hanbin, or Jiwon, or Minho when they started rapping. They winged their first performances, letting the beat hypnotize them and feed them words with the underlying feelings of the tracks. Newbies with no experience perform in the clubs here everyday, even in our own club,” Seunghoon replies. “Same with me when I occasionally perform with them, I just wing it,” he adds. “If these kids can fix and finish Hanbin’s old discarded tracks, they can perform,” the brunette finishes, nodding in satisfaction with his answer. “But, since they haven’t done this before, I’ll make some lyrics for them.”

“Oooooh, songwriter Hoony is making his comeback?” Seungyoon teases, wiggling his eyes at the security guard, who merely rolls his eyes at the white haired man.

“Shut up Yoon,” he scoffs, looking back to Yunhyeong and the boys. “I say you let them do it, Yun. Besides, you know that regardless of Jiwon and Minho not being here to perform their new song, you know that they would still have wanted something new being presented. I know Donghyuk and Junhoe were working on a duet, and they would’ve probably performed it tonight, if not for our newest additions wanting to do so instead,” he grins wider. Yunhyeong purses his lips in thought, thinking to himself before sighing and nodding with a grumble.

“Mmm, alright then. You go write their lyrics, Donghyuk and I will dress the boys,” Yunhyeong replies. “I hate it when you’re right,” he adds in a grumble, causing both Seunghoon and Seungyoon to chuckle.

“The files are already open on the computer, Seunghoon-hyung,” Chan tells him with a small smile. Seunghoon nods, heading over to Hanbin’s studio room while Yunhyeong takes him, 99, and Jisung to his, Seungyoon’s, and Donghyuk’s shared room. Donghyuk looks up from the vanity, a black eyeliner pencil in hand, grinning at who he sees.

“Boys!” he squeals, throwing his arms in the air. “ Why are you bringing them in here, Yunnie-hyung?” the other blonde asks in a chipper tone, going back to doing his eyeliner.

“Well, our boys here decided to be crazy and experimental, and are going to perform tonight.”

“WHAT?!” Donghyuk nearly messes up his eyeliner, turning in his chair to look at the three boys with a shocked expression. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not,” Yunhyeong replies, and Donghyuk’s silent, finishing up the rest of his eyeliner. “Hoony’s working on words for them, and I told him that the both of us would help dress them for their debut,” the older blonde grins at the other, waiting for the younger to say something. Donghyuk turns back towards the three, narrowing his eyes at them, humming to himself.

“Get stuff from Jinhwan’s closet for 99 and Jisung. Chan can use some of my clothes,” the younger blonde says after some contemplation, heading to his closet and looking through his clothes while Yunhyeong headed to Jinhwan’s room to look for clothes. “I can’t believe you three actually want to go through with this. You guys are crazy,” he adds, tossing a pair of pants onto the bed. The pants appear to be black baggy jeans with thick red stripes going up the sides, bordered by thinner, white stripes. A yellow belt with black text is dropped next along with black socks, and then a black graphic t-shirt is dropped last. “Here are your clothes, Chan. Tuck the shirt in the front of the pants, not the back, then put on the belt,” he tells the male, who nods silently, taking off his dirty white hoodie and pulls on the graphic tee, marveling at the soft fabric. As Chan changes into the rest of the clothing, Yunhyeong returns to the room, clothes draped over his shoulders. There are black shoes in his right hand, and a black hat and a black headband in his left hand.

“I return with clothes and other items,” the older blonde hums, dropping the clothes on the bed. “You two can choose the items that you like, but don’t fight over them,” he adds, watching as 99 and Jisung look through the clothes that Yunhyeong had given them. He glances over to Chan, who’s looking at himself in the mirror, fingers laid upon the inked skin of his left cheek. Yunhyeong stepped up behind the male, humming in thought. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“Is there any way to hide this?” asks the shorter male, making eye contact with Yunhyeong in the mirror. “I like how the clothes look and how they feel, but my eyes can’t help but be drawn to this..” he adds, voice going soft near the end of the sentence. Yunhyeong looks at the vanity, looking at the array of cosmetics that Donghyuk has laid out, eyes going to a peach colored concealer and a yellow colored concealer, humming in thought, before snapping his fingers.

“Sit down, Chan. I’m going to try something,” the older blonde told him, grabbing the two concealers. Chan blinked, sitting down in the vanity chair and looking at Yunhyeong confused.

“What are you going to do?” the younger asks, watching as the platinum blonde opened the peach concealer underneath his eye, directly onto the tattoo.

“It’s called color correcting,” Yunhyeong replies, applying the concealer thoroughly before switching to the yellow one, applying it underneath the peach colored strip he made. “I’m going to see if it work on hiding your tattoo. It worked for me, so it should work for you guys too,” he adds, grabbing a blender and blending the concealers on his skin so it was smoother and not so creamy. Once it was blended, Yunhyeong pinned Chan’s black locks up so he could work on his face. Grabbing a foundation that matched Chan’s skin tone, he began applying it to the boy’s face, making sure there was even coverage where it was applied, before going over it once more with a lighter concealer. Once he was done, he hummed, inspecting Chan’s face. Grabbing a tissue, he dabbed at Chan’s face, removing any excess product he applied. “One sec Chan,” he murmured, grabbing some loose colorless powder, gently applying it on Chan’s face, and then spraying it lightly with some setting spray. “Hnm, there we go! Take a look for yourself, Chan,” Yunhyeong grins, proud of his work. Chan blinks, looking over at himself in the mirror, and gasps. His tattoo has been successfully hidden.

“Wow..” he mumbles, in awe at what he’s seeing, angling his face to get a better view of his covered brand. He can hear Jisung and 99 gasp behind him, and he can see them come up behind him, eyes wide at the now clear skin, instead of a black ink tattoo.

“He managed to cover your tattoo!” Jisung gasps, looking at his cheeks in wonder. He’s dressed in a black graphic t-shirt like Chan, except his isn’t tucked, and he’s wearing a black and yellow striped turtleneck underneath. A reddish pink belt strap can be seen hanging from underneath the shirts. Paired with the shirts are simple black track pants and black low cut sneakers. The black headband is hidden underneath his hair. 99 wears a large black hoodie with a black and white hood. The sleeves come the his elbow, bu there’s extensive fabric with a red line going down the center that gives the appearance of long sleeves, and the bottom of a white t-shirt can be seen under the hoodie. He’s chosen black joggers and black athletic sneakers, and he wears the black, faux leather hat on his head, the strap on the back a bit longer than what a normal hat would have. “You look amazing hyung!" 

“So do you two,” he replies with a smile, which is mirrored onto Jisung’s and 99’s facial expressions.

“I’ve finished your guys’ lyrics-woah-” Seunghoon walks into the room, blinking at the three subjects. “You guys look great! Yunhyeong and Donghyuk did a good job dressing you guys,” the long haired male grins, entering the room just as Yunhyeong sets to work on hiding Jisung’s and 99’s tattoos. Approaching Chan, he hands the male a notebook with words scribbled on from top to bottom. “I did my best to make lyrics that go with the instrumentals you made, but how you choose to deliver the words are up to you, and who does which part is also up to you three. I put the files on this flash drive for the DJ,” he explains, holding up a black flash drive, handing it to Yunhyeong. “You can choose the titles for the songs and announce them once you perform.”

“Thank you so much, Seunghoon-hyung,” Chan speaks for them, bowing down to the older male.

“It’s no problem. But, I’m curious,” the brunette pauses, raising an eyebrow, “What will you three call yourselves?” It falls silent as they all look at the trio, who wear thoughtful looks on their faces. 99 hums, before giving a small grin to the others.

“Well, you’ll just have to find out, won’t you?”

  
**...**

The bass pounds through their bodies as they stand by the bar, hidden from the crowd. The crowd is wild, drinks in practically everyone’s hands and the multicolored strobe lights illuminating their sweaty and alcohol ridden bodies. The stage is empty, save for the DJ who’s stationed next to it, mixing all of the best r&b hits just for the crowd. “Are you guys sure you still want to carry out with this?” Yunhyeong asks, looking back at the trio. They all hold microphones in their hands, holding on tightly to the object. Their tattoos are hidden well, and they’ve been dressed well, the perfect disguise. His expression shows hesitance and worry in its features as he looks at the three he had taken in.

“We’re sure, Yunhyeong,” 99 smiles at him in response, the action meant to be reassuring. Before they had come down, Seunghoon gave them quick tips and had them practice a bit, pointing out things they could use to their advantage in their performance. Being the more advanced and experimented people that they were, they had managed to memorize the lyrics Seunghoon had given them. But like he said, it was up to them on who did what part, and how they would deliver it. They would be put to the test.

“Alright, if you say so,” the platinum blonde replies in a sigh, nodding. Seungyoon comes up to them, a microphone in his hand as well.

“Are they ready?” the white haired male asks, and the three boys nod. “Have you guys decided on a group name?” The boys freeze at that, they have not. Jisung glances around the club, eyes narrowing at a bottle of some red liquid or sauce, squinting to read the text, but unable to do so.

“Threeracha!” the slimmest chirps with wide eyes. Seungyoon and Yunhyeong blink at him.

“What?”

“Threeracha..3RACHA,” Chan repeats, a smile curling at his lips as he nods his head. “The vibe of 3RACHA, hot hiphop crew,” he says, smiling up at the two older males. Seungyoon and Yunhyeong look at each other, giving a small shrug before nodding. Seungyoon about to leave, flashdrive in hand, but Chan grabs his wrist, whispering something into his ear, pulling away as the white haired male nods again, twirling the microphone in his hand. Before the three can follow him, Yunhyeong stops them. “Yunhyeong-hyung?”

“You three are really something else,” he laughs, and pulls the three boys into a quick hug. “Best of luck up there, boys,” he adds in a whisper, patting their shoulder and moving back to the bar. The three shoot him a smile, and follow Seungyoon to the stage. The lights dim as they walk onto the hardwood surface, a light focusing on Seungyoon’s tall form. The mass of people cheer upon seeing the white haired man, and he shoots them a blinding smile.

“Hello, hello everyone! Welcome, to MOBB!” he exclaims, and the cheers go wild as he hands the flashdrive to the DJ, giving him instructions on what to do. “Tonight, we’re doing something a bit different. I know you all were expecting our resident top dogs Bobby and Mino, but they had some important business to attend to,” he explains, and the crowd lets out an ‘awwwwww’. “Hey, hey, hey! If it wasn’t for them this place wouldn’t be here!” a chorus of laughs and nods follow. “Now, for tonight, we have some fresh, new talent coming into our establishment. Making their debut, we have ourselves a hot hip hop crew. Get ready to vibe to the flaming beats, of 3RACHA!” he yells into the mic, and the crowd cheers. Seungyoon points to the DJ, and the music starts to fill the room, making the crowd go quiet. The lights shine on Chan, 99, and Jisung. In that short moment before they start, they gather themselves. They can do this, they can wing it. Chan glances to 99, and receives a nod, watching as the shortest starts the song off, raspy voice solid and strong. He carries the lyrics well, experimenting with the delivery. The crowd seems invested in their performance, which is a good thing. 99 glances to Chan as his verse ends, and Chan receives his glance with a smooth transition into the chorus, voice light yet powerful. Making eye contact with the crowd, and he can see some heads bobbing along with their music in the back, and he grins. The switch to Jisung is smooth, and the younger male plays with the pitch of his voice as he raps. It goes perfectly with their instrumental, and Chan grins wider when it transfers back to him, singing the chorus with a more confident tone. The last note rings out, but soon the beat of their second song is playing, and they bounce with the beat, adrenaline pumping through their vines. It’s exhilarating, and they get more experimental and bold with their overall effect and delivery. The crowd eats it up, smiles on their faces and bodies bouncing with the beat just like their own.

By the time their performance is done, the whole building is screaming happily, filled with clapping and cheers. The three boys are breathing heavily, skin covered in a layer of sweat, and large smiles growing on their faces.

“HEY! WHAT ARE YOUR NAMES?” one audience member yells. Chan, 99, and Jisung all look at each other.

“CB97,” Chan replies, looking at 99 and Jisung. The crowd cheers. “Behind me are SPEARB,” 99 raises his arms and more cheers erupt, “and J.One,” Jisung grins at the crowd, and they just eat it up. Their stage names are chanted repeatedly, and it fuels the trio as they look around at the crowd. Their eyes widen when they see three familiar figures standing in the back. Jiwon and Minho are grinning wildly and clapping, while Hanbin wears a calm smile and nods his head in approval. The crowd goes deaf in their ears as the three look at each other. This is what they escaped for.

This, was their freedom.

 

**PROLOGUE 000: END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- the prologue was inspired by the district 9 teaser and mv  
> \- chan's, changbin's, and jisung's looks were inspired by those worn in the district 9 teaser and mv (basically i am not era looks)  
> \- this won't be styled like a musical thing like repo!  
> \- ikon's looks were from new kids: begin era  
> \- winner's looks were from our twenty for era  
> \- minho's, jiwon's, and hanbin's backstories will be revealed later in the story  
> \- i based the healing period of chan's sprained ankle off of a time when i sprained my ankle, it was probably one of the more worse times of my life tbh, i hated it  
> \- the songs that 3racha performed were intro and runner's high, two bops from their first mixtape j:/2017/mixtape which you should check out if you haven't already  
> \- the new song minho and jiwon were supposed to perform in their club was full house  
> \- i have no idea how cosmetics work, all i do is my eyebrows and my eyeliner, so i'm sorry but i'm no beauty guru here ;v;  
> \- the other names mentioned in the prologue are leaders from other groups with numbers in their names. can you guess the groups?


	3. Chapter One: Dependability and Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set in the current timeline of the story, the rest of Stray Kids are introduced, and the plot starts. The Prism and some of it's other employees are introduced. Sigma Rho Kappa are given their first real field mission. Concern rises from the other workers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> losing sense of who you are as a writer, as a student, and as a person is something extremely painful to go through. add in familial disputes and situations as well as unreachable expectations has made me depressed beyond belief, and i really mean that. even now, i'm still going through such things, and i'm really just want to find something..something sweet, something nice and pretty, something to help me. i come back here because reading and writing serves as that something sweet and nice and pretty, and it makes me feel not as much a mess as i am. it's a remedy for me.
> 
> personal life aside, the first two ?? three ?? chapters will be a bit boring and slow, as i'm just want to establish things and get in the swing of writing again, but i promise the story will get more entertaining as it progresses. i do have some fun(?) things planned for this story. with chapter one FINALLY finished, i do sincerely hope that you all enjoy it. i worked on it in small bits and i think the end result is decent. do enjoy, and thank you for waiting so long for this update.
> 
> -ikyksou

 

**4 MONTHS LATER; PRESENT TIME**

_There’s a faint beeping that slowly grows louder, more clear as it continues on_

 

A large, tan hand falls onto the phone screen, swiping across the screen with a finger, stopping the alarm and its continuous beeping. It remains there for a while, before removing itself from the object, moving up to slide down the angles of a structured face in a slow and tired manner. Long, slanted eyes blink slowly, opening up to reveal dark chocolate irises. These brown orbs belonged to a man, with radiant tan skin and hair the color of umber. As he sits up in his bed, running his hand through the locks , one could see that the male was built, arms and midsection holding toned musculature. He releases a soft yawn, standing up from his bed and stretching his limbs out. He doesn’t even get to start walking to the bathroom before his phone rings, rather loudly. It makes the man sigh in disdain, picking up his phone and looking at the contact. “Of course it’s him..” the man mumbles, pushing his hair back before answering the call. “You better have a good reason for calling so early,” he grumbles, putting the phone to his ear.

 _“Aww, don’t I get a good morning first, hyung?”_ a cheeky sounding voice replied over the phone. He rolls his eyes, shaking his head and making his way over to the bathroom. 

“Get to the point, Minho. You know that I don’t like being talked to right after I wake up, especially on a work day,” the umber haired male chided. “I have to get ready, so say what you have to say,” he added, pulling out his toothbrush from the drawer underneath the sink, as well as toothpaste. Minho laughs over the phone, a teasing sound really. 

 _“Alright, alright. Geez, you always have a stick up your ass in the morning, Woojin-hyung,”_ Minho scoffs, probably rolling his eyes and scowling. The man, Woojin, mumbles under his breath (‘I wonder why’ in a sarcastic manner), about to speak again but Minho beats him to it. _“Anyways, the Admiral wants us to be there early today. Our whole unit,”_ Minho tells him as Woojin’s putting toothpaste on his toothbrush, phone squished between his cheek, ear, and shoulder.  

“Admiral said for us to be there early?” Woojin asks incredulously, looking at himself in the mirror was an expression of disbelief on his face. “Minho, I know you’re an asshole, but now is not the time to be one and mess with me,” the male grumbles, wetting the toothbrush and sticking the toothbrush into his mouth, brushing quickly yet effectively. Minho releases an offended squawk over the phone, huffing angrily. 

 _“I’m not an asshole!”_ Minho replies, and Woojin rolls his eyes, not replying as he cleans his teeth thoroughly, looking at himself in the mirror with an unimpressed expression from Minho’s response. _“Okay, perhaps I am,”_ an indifferent hum comes from Woojin, _“But that’s not the point here! I’m serious, hyung.  The Admiral wants all of Sigma Rho Kappa early today. Do you really think I, being in your Second-in-Command, would lie about such a thing?”_ the younger adds, and Woojin is silent as he continues to brush his teeth. The younger male had a point, however. Would he, the Second-in-Command, really lie to his unit leader about such an important occurrence? The older male finishes up, spitting out and rinsing out his mouth, removing his phone from between his cheek, ear, and shoulder, holding the device in his right hand. 

“Hmm, I suppose not,” Placing the toothbrush and toothpaste back in the drawer, he stretches out his limbs once more, sighing in a satisfied manner when he hears his bones pop and feels his muscles relax. “Is there a specific time?”

 _“No later than 8:00,”_ Another hum from the older, running his free hand through his umber locks and peering over at the red led numbers of the clock by his bed. 6:13 am, they read. He averts his eyes, running his hand through his hair a few more times before letting his hand fall, resting on his hip as he hums in thought once more.

“I’ll be there around 7:30, then,” Woojin tells the younger male, making his way out of the bathroom with slow, heavy steps. “Are there any other details that I should know? Any other major details?”

 _“Not that I know of at the moment, but I’ll keep you updated, okay?”_ Minho replies, and there’s a bit of scuffling and shuffling from his side of the phone. _“I have to get going, hyung. I’ll see you later.”_

“Alright Minho, see you later,” the elder replies, and the call ends with another bye from the younger male. Woojin releases a sigh he hadn’t even known he was holding in, rubbing at his forehead with a pressed expression, phone held tightly in his hand. Despite the fact that it was a simple phone call, and that Minho was simply doing his task and giving him information, Woojin couldn’t help but be worried about the contents. Being summoned before the Admiral was a huge deal in the Prism. It either meant you were getting promoted, were being assigned an important mission, or being fired. His lower lip was trapped between his teeth, worrying the rosy flesh with his pearly whites.

“What could he want us for?” Woojin asked himself in a murmur. His own unit, Sigma Rho Kappa, was a fairly new unit in the Prism, the newest field operations unit actually. They’ve only been an active unit for about 6 months now, and usually the first time a unit is called in by the Admiral, the unit has been active for at least a year already. There are only 3 possible reasons for being called in by the Admiral. One, they’re being told to be on standby for another operations unit and will act as backup. Two, they’re being assigned a serious mission. Three, they’re getting fired. Option 2 is the least likely to happen for his unit, since they’ve only been active for 6 months. He knows that another field operations unit, Gamma Omega Tau, is currently on a mission, so Sigma Rho Kappa will probably be called to be backup. And, as much as he wants to deny it, Jeongin and Felix have been having a bit too much fun recently, and he wonders if their whole unit will be scolded for the actions of their members. All the possibilities fly through his head as he stands in the middle of his room, phone still clutched in his hand. As unit leader, it was his duty to keep his unit in check, make sure that they were updated on all events, all occurrences. Woojin had to make sure that they were to always be prepared for anything to come their way. “What a way to start off the week,” the male mumbles to himself. With that in mind, the male set his phone back down on his night table, releasing a yawn as he began to get ready for the day.

 

~*~

 

“Took you long enough to get here, hyung-”

“Can it, Lee. You’re the one who called me so early in the morning,” Woojin mutters, making eye contact with a certain individual. Minho shrugs, a coy smile playing at his cat-like lips as he brushes a few strands of his raven hair away from his face.

“Well, you’re a deep sleeper, what else was I supposed to do?” he asks, tilting his head to the side as the older male walks past him, hands held behind his back. The younger catches up to the elder with quick steps, hands shoved into his jacket pockets. “If I hadn’t called you probably would’ve slept in for another hour.” the younger adds, giving his superior a pointed look. He smirks when all he gets is a grunt in response, chuckling to himself.

Lee Minho was a man of sly words and a sarcastic wit, a perfect contrast to Woojin’s more direct and logical approach to things. Shorter, with raven hair and fair skin. A bit more lean than the elder, but just as strong. Their difference in wit and demeanor proves them to be a deadly duo, practically unstoppable. “So, when did you find out that the Admiral wanted to see us in specific?”

“This morning. Jimin-noona called me just as I was about to leave my apartment. She seemed very tense over the phone,” Minho replies, tone going serious and smirk falling from his face. “She didn’t give me exact details, but from how she sounded when she called me, it seems very serious,” he adds, hickory irises tinted with a hint of worry.

“My best bet is that we’re being called as backup for Gamma Omega Tau. They’re still on their mission,” Woojin replies, seeing the doors to the Field Operations Unit Sector come in sight. “From what I know, they were sent on a difficult mission not too long ago, but it’s been about two weeks since they’ve been sent out,” he adds, opening the double doors and letting himself and Minho into the sector. A large training area welcomed them, a lone walkway rising above the area to connect to a large cafeteria, several offices, and several lounging rooms. The Chief and Second-in-Command made their way towards the walkway, walking on the blue, translucent surface, peeking down at their peers training below. He hears Minho hum beside him, glancing down to the younger male.

“Well, I wouldn’t be quite so sure about that,” the raven haired male replies, eyes still set forward as they reach the automatic doors, paying no mind as they slide open for him and Minho to enter the general lounging area.

“And why is that?-”

“GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!-”

The yell startles Woojin and Minho, who take in the sight before them. Two males are seated on a couch, one reading the newspaper while the other stares back at Woojin and Minho in horror. Four males sit around the coffee table, except one of them is now standing, angrily throwing what appears to be some playing cards onto the table. He has penny colored hair and fair skin, his body frame more filled out than the other three sitting at the table with him. Woojin is quick to recognize the male, eyes widening as the male makes eye contact with him. It’s silent for a few moments before the penny haired male yells again, pointing to a younger looking male with black hair and a metal filled grin. “HOW DO YOU ALWAYS GET A ROYAL FLUSH?!” and it makes the young male giggle into his hands, fox like eyes narrowed into slits with his giggling.

“Hello to you too, Jackson-hyung,” Minho laughs softly, walking towards the group of four while Woojin stares for a bit, making his way to the couch, sitting next to the boy reading the newspaper. The other boy scrambles to Woojin, dark gray hair swooshing about as he moves.

“Woojin-hyung, I told Jeongin and Felix to stop I swear, but they didn’t listen and then the other hyungs came back and-” Woojin held up his hand and the boy fell silent, biting his plush bottom lip in worry. 

“It’s fine Hyunjin. It was to be expected from them anyways,” he replies in a sigh, glancing over to the metal grin boy and a platinum blonde with a constellation of freckles splattered on his cheeks. Of course those two would be playing games, he really shouldn’t be surprised. Hyunjin sits back down, an embarrassed blush on his face as he joins the other boy in reading the newspapers. “When did Gamma Omega Tau get back?”

“Just about an hour ago,” the boy with the newspaper replied, lowering the papers to look at his unit leader better. “Bet you thought we were going to be called as backup, right?” he adds, a smirk settling on his face as he looks up at Woojin.

“Don’t get snarky with me now, Seungmin, I bet you thought the same as well,” Woojin shoots back, watching as Seungmin raises his arms in defense at the accusation, not saying anything. It was enough for Woojin to see that the younger indeed thought the same previously. Woojin huffs out a laugh, shaking his head and sitting next to the two, watching as his unit members and the Gamma Omega Tau members restarted their game. “Where’s the rest of them?”

“Youngjae-hyung’s helping out Jaeyoon-hyung with something, and Yugyeom-hyung is eating in the cafeteria,” Seungmin replies. Woojin raises a brow.

“And JB and Jinyoung hyungs?”

“With the Admiral right now,” Seungmin adds, placing the newspaper down and turning to the older male. “They’ve been in his office for quite a while now, actually. It usually doesn’t take this long to give a mission summary,” he adds, crossing his left leg over his right. Woojin hums in response, nodding as he watches Jeongin deal out the cards.

“Maybe the Admiral is keeping them back for something?” Hyunjin suggests, picking at his uniform pants.

“He is,” a new voice startles Hyunjin, making the three look up to the newcomer. Standing before them is another member of Gamma Omega Tau, stirring a cup of piping hot coffee in his left hand, dull violet hair slicked back save for a few strands and cedar brown eyes cold with a hint of a welcoming warmth. “G'morning Woojin, Minho.”

“Morning Mark-hyung,” the two mentioned reply with a nod. The older nods back, taking a sip of his coffee and standing next to the couch, watching his team mates and the younger ones play another round of poker

“Admiral held them back for a meeting,” Mark explains, giving a slow glance over to the trio on the couch. “Supposedly, some of the other unit leaders and seconds are in that meeting as well,” the older adds, lowering the white ceramic mug from his lips. “Don’t have any idea what they’re talking about though.”

“Unit leaders and seconds?” Woojin asks, eyebrows raising. “Shouldn’t Minho and I be in that meeting as well, then? We weren’t told of such a thing,” the unit leader adds, standing up from the couch. He prepares to call Minho over when Mark’s hand lands on his shoulder, making the shorter look up to him with a confused expression on his face. His eyebrows furrow when the older shakes his head no.

“If you and Minho weren’t called for this meeting, it was probably because they didn’t think your unit had to hear the information being told. Or,” the older pauses, drinking some more coffee before continuing his sentence. “Or maybe it’s you and your unit that they are talking about,” a small shrug follows after, cedar eyes wandering back to the group of four playing poker on the coffee table. The words make Woojin tense, eyes flicking nervously over to the direction of the Admiral’s office. If they were talking about him and Sigma Rho Kappa, then it must be serious, and he wasn’t thinking in the most positive light. They’ve only been allowed small missions so far, but the actions of Felix and Jeongin were..questionable, and more often than not damaged the image of their unit. As much as Woojin would absolutely love to punch Felix and Jeongin in the face sometimes (most of the time), they were vital members of his unit. He didn’t want their unit, _his_ unit, to get deactivated because of small, foolish actions. “I can hear your negative thoughts, Woo,” Mark’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, making the younger look over to the older. “Relax,” He had a hint of a smile on his face as he drank his coffee.

“I can’t relax hyung, what if-” Woojin started, but was shushed by the older.

“No what ifs,” Mark said firmly, looking at the younger unit leader with a stern expression. “You’re going to be fine, I know it. Besides, if they are talking about Sigma Rho Kappa, I highly doubt that they’re talking bad about you guys,” the taller adds, smiling and giving the impression that he knew more than he let on.

“How can you be so sure of that when we have these two in our unit?” Seungmin asks with a deadpan expression, gesturing to Felix and Jeongin on the floor. The two give squawks in protest, but remain focused on their game with their seniors. Mark smiles more, giving another shrug. 

“I just know. Trust me kid,” the older replies softly, combing his dull violet hair back as he drank the rest of his coffee, eyes widening as he spots something, hurriedly chugging down his coffee and placing his mug down roughly and nearly breaking it. “JB, Jinyoung!” he calls, and that grabs the attention of the two units in the lobby. They all look over as a group of people come from the hall, the other unit leaders and seconds. They’re all conversing softly, and two males break off from the small crowd, walking towards the men in the lobby. They’re the same height, except one has hair styled into a caramel brown mullet, and the other has his jet black hair parted to the left. The mullet donning male gives a small smile, nodding as Mark approaches and stands in front of him, the black haired male on the brunette’s left. “How was the meeting?”

“Nothing big, Mark,” the jet haired male replies with a soft sigh. “Admiral needed a..third opinion on something,” he adds with a small nod.

“More like a seventh opinion,” the brunette male murmured, rolling his eyes, grunting as he received a jab to his side from the jet haired male. “What? He has enough authority and intelligence to make that decision himself!” he adds, receiving another jab, harder this time.

“Don’t say that out loud! What if he hears you?” the raven haired male scolds, eyes wide as he glances back to the Admiral’s office.

“Sorry,” the brunette mumbles, looking down. It doesn’t last long as he looks back up at Mark. “Jinyoung knows I’m right though,” he adds with a snarky grin, looking at Jinyoung who just rolls his eyes at him.

“Sure you are, Bum,” Jinyoung hums, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at the slightly taller male.  “Anyways, where are the kids?” he asks, looking over Mark’s shoulder. “Admiral’s ready to see them.”

“As much as you say they’re your kids Jinyoung, they’re all adults,” Mark laughs, watching Jinyoung cross his arms tighter, murmuring something under his breath. Mark points behind him. “They’re sitting down there-”

“NOT AGAIN!”

The three turn to see Jackson angrily throwing his cards on the table. Felix, Jeongin, and a white haired male laugh at the penny haired man’s misfortune, watching him stare down the playing cards with a heavy gaze. “How do you fucking do it, Jeongin?” he groans, watching as the said boy laughed louder, braces catching the light. The white haired man wraps his arms around Jeongin’s and Felix’s shoulders, smirking at his comrade.

“Who do you think taught him how, Jackie-hyung?” the white haired smirks really wide, laughing impossibly loud as he watches Jackson’s face slowly tint red in anger.

“BamBam, why you little-” Jackson reaches over to throttle BamBam, who screeches pathetically, removing himself from his juniors and running away from Jackson who now chases after him. The two pass Minho, who just laughs with a smirk, sipping on the coffee he bought from the cafeteria. Jinyoung groans upon watching his two comrades, taking in a deep breath before following after them, yelling profanities. JB and Mark laugh, sighing fondly afterwards.

“Jinyoung is really going to kill them one day,” Mark hums with a grin, pointing JB to Woojin’s form on the couch. “He’s right there. I’ll let you talk to him, he’s a bit worried,” the eldest laughs, walking away as he finishes his coffee. JB nods, approaching the younger unit leader slowly. Just as Mark said, Woojin appears worried, seemingly distracted by his own thoughts. “Worrying isn’t going to get you anywhere, Woojin.”

He watches as the younger gasps softly, startled at his appearance. It takes him a moment, but he sighs in relief when he recognizes who’s speaking to him. “JB-hyung,” he whispers, looking up to the other. Gamma’s leader look as friendly as ever, usually intense eyes softened at the edges, expression more relaxed than the usual hard set stare. “I can’t help but worry, this is the first time Admiral wants all of Sigma Rho Kappa,” Woojin explains, hands gripping his knees tightly. “Weren’t...weren’t you worried or scared the first time the Admiral called you into his office?”

“Of course I was,” JB replies with a small nod, running a hand through his caramel locks. “I’m pretty sure every unit leader is scared or worried or both when Admiral calls them in for the first time, it’s normal. We wonder if we did something wrong, if there was a terrible situation going on, and many more things,” the older tells him, gesturing for Woojin to stand. The younger stands, and JB rests his hands on the younger’s shoulders, staring straight into Woojin’s eyes. “The first time we got called in, I was terrified. It had been a little over a year, and we were doing pretty good. Sure, Jackson and BamBam were being idiotic, Yugyeom sometimes too, but it wasn’t doing any major damage. When I told them that the Admiral wanted to see us, they didn’t really seem scared or terrified like I was,” he explains, and Woojin blinks confused, eyebrows furrowing.

“How come?” the Sigma leaders asks, looking closely at his senior. The older laughs a bit, only making Woojin more confused, before calming himself.

“Because we were all together. Jinyoung just looked at me like I was insane, and just said ‘It isn’t the end of the world, Bum, stop worrying so much’ and I was shocked. How could he not be scared? His reply to me was ‘Well, we’re all going there together, we’re all going to face him, and we stand the strongest when we’re all together’, and he was right,” JB pauses to see if Woojin’s following him, smiling a bit as the younger urges him to continue speaking. “Whenever I’m with my unit, I find that I’m not as scared as I was, and that I feel much better in myself. I realized I wasn’t alone. It wasn’t just me facing the Admiral, it was all of us. They were scared too, they admitted that when I asked them, but their fear was lessened because they knew that we would have each other’s backs, regardless of what happened in that office,” the older finishes, a reminiscent smile on his face. “Do you know what happened that day, Woojin?”

“What happened that day, hyung?”

“We got assigned the biggest mission in our careers,” JB responds, grinning wide. “Not only that, we were assigned not as backup, but as partners with Tau Pi Mu, fricking _Tau Pi Mu_!! It was the biggest honor to work with those seniors,” the brunette laughs fondly at the memory. With his laughter dying down, he gives Woojin a deep stare, expression softening into a neutral setting. “What I’m trying to say, Woojin, is that you’re not the only one scared. They’re probably scared too, but they know that they have each other, and that they have you. It won’t be as scary when you’re all there together, supporting each other,” the older gives a small smile, patting the younger’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Now, don’t keep the Admiral waiting.” and with that, the older leader leaves him, walking to Jinyoung and Mark, conversing with them.

Woojin stands there, dazed. JB’s spiel had calmed Woojin’s nerves, but he was still scared, still worried. It wasn’t as bad as before, he noted. He would have to thank JB later. He hadn’t noticed how quiet it had gotten until a half-empty cup of coffee is held in front of his face. The Sigma leader blinks, looking up to see Minho holding out his coffee, a small smile on his face.

“Drink,” the second said softly, taking Woojin’s hand and making him hold the mug. Woojin nodded at his second, downing the leftover coffee, sighing in content once he finished it.

“Thank you,” the older whispered, receiving a wider smile from the raven haired male. Glancing around the room, Woojin saw that all his unit members were up, looking at him, waiting for his orders. Placing the mug down on the coffee table, he looked at his unit. It was fine, everything would be okay because they were doing this together. So, with a deep breath, he nodded to himself. “Alright, let’s go,” the leader said firmly, walking towards the Admiral’s office, the others following behind. Woojin walked with a tense posture, still fearful of what was to come, but he held his head up high. He would not allow himself to submit to cowardice.

 

.

 

They stood in front of the door to the Admiral’s office. Woojin glanced back at his unit, surveying their expressions. They all appeared calm, but for all he knows, they have similar thoughts to his own. Minho gives him a reassuring nod. Woojin faces the door once again. Sucking in a breath, he raises his fist, delivering three loud knocks to the wooden door. “Come in,” a voice says from inside. Woojin grabs the doorknob, twisting it and pushing the door open, and slowly walks in, Minho and the others following behind.

“Good, you’re all here,” Admiral Jean Paul says from his desk, standing as the unit enters. The Admiral isn’t that tall, only the same height as Hyunjin, but his powerful aura and demeanor make him the largest person in the room. His presence is no joke. Ebony hair is let down, parted softly to the right and resting above deep, charcoal eyes that hold lots of knowledge and wisdom. The man’s face is angular, his gaze sharp and intimidating. “Have a seat,” he tells the leader and second, gesturing to the two wooden seats placed in front of his desk. Woojin and Minho take a seat, while the other four settle into a row behind the two. Jean Paul remains standing looking them all over, before speaking again. “Before we start, you’re not in trouble and you’re not getting fired,” he states, and the unit sighs in relief. “Quite the contrary, actually,” he adds, making the unit curious.

“What have we been called in for then, Admiral?” Minho asks, expression serious as he looks at his superior. Jean Paul turns on the hologram projector on his desk, watching as the translucent aqua screen appears, showing various images of an institution by the woods.

“I’m sure you all know what this institution is, correct?” Jean Paul asks, looking at the images displayed on the holographic screen.

“That’s..that’s Vechnost Laboratory, isn’t it? Owned by GMO?” Hyunjin replies, a slight, fearful quiver in his tone, eyes wide looking at the screen. Jean Paul hums with a nod, tapping on one image and making it fill up the whole screen so they have a better view of the place.

“Yes, that’s correct Hyunjin. This is Vechnost, owned by GMO. As you all know, GMO is the largest medical provider in all of Seoul, but their main source of income is their Organ Transplant Program. An individual can get an organ transplant and either pay in full at the end of the year or do monthly payments,” the ebony haired man starts. “However, if someone misses their full payment date or all their monthly payment dates, a repoman is sent to repossess the organ that they had transplanted into their body and effectively kill them,” Jean Paul explains slowly, looking at the image with a blank gaze. “Does anyone know where Vechnost would fall in this situation?” he asks, turning his cold gaze to the men before him.

The boys are silent, thinking. “Isn’t Vechnost just a medicine distributor for GMO?” Jeongin asks, tilting his head at the image.

“That’s just their cover up,” Jean Paul replies, pressing a few buttons on the projectors, and a new series of images shows up. Woojin’s eyes widen.

“Wait, this was the place that Gamma Omega Tau had to go for their mission,” the leader says, glancing at the images. Jean Paul nods, enlarging the images on the screen.

“That’s right, Woojin. These images were taken by an undercover source we have in Vechnost, with the help of Delta Alpha Psi. Vechnost is actually the supplier for GMO’s repomen. Our inside source, as well as Delta and Gamma, have confirmed that Vechnost uses torture and experimentation to create their repomen,” a new image pops up on the screen, a scan of a newspaper. “Four months ago, it was reported that three of Vechnost’s repomen subjects had escaped the facility. No sighting of them has been reported since,” Jean Paul tells them, looking over to the field operations unit.

“Wait, but this is part of Gamma Omega Tau’s mission. What does this have to do with us?” Felix asks, crossing his arms and leaning on his left leg. Jean Paul turns off the projector, looking at all of them with a hard expression.

“It’s our first useful lead in years. According to the analytic results of our inside source and Delta’s Wonpil, it is highly estimated those three test subjects made it into the Underground District. If we can find those test subjects, we have a higher chance of shutting down Vechnost and GMO,” the Admiral explains, standing tall as he stares down the unit. “Gamma Omega Tau have completed their mission. We need a unit to go undercover in the Underground and find those subjects. According to an inside source of Delta Alpha Psi, the Underground gets an 80% influx of teens and young adults moving in each year. So, I’m assigning you, Sigma Rho Kappa, this undercover and retrieval mission.”

The entirety of the unit stare at their Admiral with mouths wide open, eyes like saucers. Them, a huge mission like this? They had to be dreaming. Jean Paul places a thick manila folder in front of Woojin and Minho, sliding the folder towards them.

“All the information gathered by our inside source, Gamma, and Delta have been placed in here for you to use. If you have any questions, go to them. Sunmi will meet with you guys tomorrow to prepare your guys disguises. You’re dismissed.”

Woojin grabs the folder from the table. He and Minho stand up, bowing to their superior, before rounding up the unit and exiting the office. Just as they exit, a bright orange haired girl enters the office with an ash haired male following behind her. She glances out the door way, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed, clutching her clipboard tighter to her chest. “You’re really giving them the mission?” she asks, looking away and making her way over to the desk in the far left corner of the office. The ash haired male closes the door, making his way to Jean Paul’s desk.

“Yes, Jimin. Teno’s given us an opening and I’d be a fool not to use it,” Jean Paul replies, running his hands through his hair with a sigh.

“But sending Sigma Rho Kappa?” the ash haired male speaks up, sitting in front of Jean Paul. “Not that they aren’t good, they’re probably the best new unit we’ve had in a while. But sending them on this? Are you sure they’re ready for such a big mission?” he adds, crossing his arms and looking at Jean Paul closely. “They don’t have much field experience.”

“I’m aware of that, but despite not having much field experience, they’ve shown excellent results in all other missions they were sent on,” Jean Paul counters. He sighs again, looking at the two closely. “Listen, I’m aware of your concerns with sending them on this mission, but you have to trust my decision as Admiral here, and more so as your unit leader, D.L,” the oldest says, directing his last part at the ash haired male, D.L. D.L looks down, apologizing. “It’s fine. Check to make sure K-KID and Taichi aren’t squabbling again. Jimin, check up on the training status of Iota Tau Zeta,” he tells the two, watching as they leave. Once he’s alone in his office, he closes his eyes, messages his temples with a distressed expression. He can only hope he made the right choice.

 

**CHAPTER 001: END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- the rest of stray kids' looks are from mirror era, but it'll change in the future  
> \- got7's looks are from lullaby era  
> \- blanc7's looks are from drama era ( before they disbanded :(( )  
> \- jimin's look is from her april fool's video  
> \- tau pi mu is 2pm  
> \- iota tau zeta is itzy


End file.
